


Borg Breakout

by JumpingSeaPickle



Category: Milo Murphy's Law, Phineas and Ferb
Genre: Across the 2nd Dimension, Alternate Universe, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-25 04:33:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21870115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JumpingSeaPickle/pseuds/JumpingSeaPickle
Summary: Second dimension Doofenshmirtz stops the rebellion just before they can stop him, locking the gang from his dimension in a different prison than the gang from our dimension. It's been almost a year for the Phineas of our dimension, who was turned into a boy-borg, trapped by a mind control device and unable to remember anything from before Doof's success. After months of the same daily schedule an incident in a suburban neighborhood might just give the resistance, and Phineas, another chance.
Comments: 18
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm always open to suggestions and advice! If you think something is off feel free to let me know! I also switch between terms for Phineas so if that's too confusing please let me know and I'll fix it.

Phinebot didn’t really remember what happened before he was caught. He had fuzzy memories of people and places that made him feel *something* but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t remember anything clearly before his ruler and creator had gotten ahold of him. Doofenshmirtz had put the weapons and headband on Phineborg himself and it was at that point when the memories and thoughts he had got muddled, that much he was sure of. During the day there was only unclear images but at night the memories came back. When he dreamed he saw his family and friends fighting to stop the same man who now controlled him. Many times he’d wake up shouting for help before the headband, a mind control device, kicked in and scrambled the surfaced memories. Phinebot wasn’t sure how long this had been going on, he couldn't keep a clear train of thought long enough to know.

  
The morning it all changed was no different. The boy borg had jolted from bed only to be pacified by the device. He blinked the tears from his eyes without emotion. His quarters were just as unassuming as always, a bland grey with a simple bed and a table sitting across from it. The setup always made something tickle at the back of his brain, not that the boy borg could figure out what that was, it was as if he should do something to the boring room. A staticky voice cut through Phineborg’s muggy thoughts.

  
“Boy borg, report for duty! Meet me in my throne room!” Instantly Phinebot sat up and marched through the halls. It was a mindless action that he did every morning before his rounds. His arrival in the throne room was announced by the large doors slamming open. Doofenshmirtz looked at him with his one eye and smiled a chilling grin.  
“Go check our prisoners.” The same command as every day. The borg saluted and marched off to the prison cells. That was his daily routine: wake up, check the prisoners, eat, patrol the surrounding area, eat, check the prisoners, eat, then go to bed and do it all over again. His feet clanked as he walked through the prison door.  
The first cell held a young lady with long black hair and a pink dress. She always walked sadly up to the bars to take the food Phinebot handed her. Phinebot vaguely remembered a time when she would talk to him; trying to get him to remember her. He felt something bad when he looked at her somber face but his headband lit up and his thoughts became even more foggy. The only clear thing going through his head was a command; feed the prisoners.

  
On unsteady feet he moved to the next cell where a bulky boy was sitting in front of the bars. Where the girl took the food this boy just looked at it before turning around. “You know dinner bell, I miss making fun of you.” His gruff voice triggers something. “You were a loser but I still miss you.” Phinebot reached forward hesitantly before the headband lit up again and patted the boy on his back. The boy jumped around but the headband did its job and Phinebot shuffled off to the next prisoner.

  
“Phineas, I think I’ve almost got that mind control device figured out. Just give me a few more days and I’ll get it off of you.” The next boy said. He was a scrawny indian kid who was classified as one of the more tricky prisoners. A few days after being thrown in the cell he had grabbed the boy borg’s head and tried to rip the headband off by force, claiming the incident to have been an experiment. Phinebot was instructed to give this prisoner his food with a pole so that he wouldn’t get grabbed again. “I have more calculations to do but I won’t give up.” Phineborg felt tears slide down his face. This boy always said that to him and it always made him emotional. Something was starting to come back again, he twisted his face in concentration trying to remember but the device quickly muddled his brain and he moved on.

  
The next cell had an older girl with red hair. She was always sitting in the back corner muttering something under her breath. Phinebot clanged on the bars with his arm extensions and slid the food in but she had stopped acknowledging his existence long before. Next to this girl was an adult man with teal hair. He took his food with a flich and limped to the back of the cell before signing to the borg. Thank you P. Phineborg knew why this man was scared, just a week prior he had attempted to escape and Phinebot had been forced to use aggressive tactics to get him back. “I’m sorry.” He said to the man. It looked like the prisoner was about to cry but the device lit up before Phinebot could figure out why.

  
The next cell over was occupied by a green haired boy. He was always quiet but Phinebot could tell he was thinking about things rather than just being downtrodden. “Ferb.” The name came to him easily for some reason. Ferb nodded sadly as the headband went to work. He took the food with no trouble and broke off a piece of bread to hand to Phineborg. The borg took it silently. He wouldn’t eat until his designated time but that never bothered Ferb. Just before he went to check the rest of the prisoners Ferb said the same thing he said everyday. “I miss you Phineas.” With that last sentence their daily ritual was complete and Phinebot left.

  
It was during his designated break that his day deviated from the normal. He was eating at his desk when Doofenshmirtz came in. “Boy borg! An entire squadron of normbots were just taken out. I want you to go investigate and arrest any resisting parties immediately.” Phinebot saluted and checked the directions on his handheld tracker.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A suburban neighborhood might just hold the very people who can help Phineborg.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (The Sara and Milo are from the second dimension and will act a bit differently from our counterparts. Please let me know of something seems out of place!)

The street he ended up at would have been unassuming if it weren't for the robotic pieces strewn down the whole block. Phinebot used his scanner to search the area for anything living. Besides animals there didn’t seem to be anything. He walked through the wreckage scanning every inch he could see. A third of the way up the block his scanners detected a person behind a mostly intact normbot. 

“Reveal yourself.” The borg commanded. Slowly a young boy crawled out from his hiding spot. He looked a little older than Phineborg. His hair was regulation cut except for a little swoop in front. The standard issue dooferalls bulged a bit around his chest and a quick scan revealed that the boy was wearing body armor under his clothes.  _ Threat level moderate. _ “Identify yourself.”

“M-Milo Murphy.” He stammered out. “I’m sorry about the bots, I didn’t do it on purpose.” Phinebot looked around before stepping closer to the boy. “You destroyed all of these on your own?” 

“Well...Murphy’s law did, I was just in the wrong place.” Milo corrected nervously. “ _ No harm in an accident.”  _ The thought was quickly erased from Phinebot’s mind. “You are under arrest for crimes against the overlord. Come peacefully or I will have to use force.” Milo stiffened. Phineborg started advancing when the bot Milo had been hiding behind suddenly exploded. The blast knocked both of them back but Milo got his bearings faster and ran to the right, weaving through debris with almost expert level skill. 

Phinebot’s coding took over and drowned out any of his own thoughts. He blasted chunks of robots out of his path. Milo yelped in pain as a metal chunk sliced through one of his arms. He threw open the front door of one of the houses and slammed it shut behind him. Phinebot merely kicked the door to splinters. “Do not resist arrest!” He scanned the area, two people on the second floor and one in the next room over hiding behind something. 

The borg went where the single person was, a kitchen apparently, and found the young boy cowering by the sink. He was clutching his arm tightly. “Please, it was an accident…” Phineborg advanced, emotionless. “You are under arrest. Do. Not. Resist.” Milo was shaking violently. His vision shifted to a spot behind Phineborg but the bot didn’t turn in time. 

Spots danced in his vision as something heavy collided with the back of his head. Phineas fell to the floor and grabbed at his hair. His memories suddenly flooded back to him, a thousand images and feelings overwhelmed his brain as he started crying. “Milo come on!” A female voice came from right behind Phineas. Blinking tears from his eyes he looked up at the boy in front of him. Realisation hit him like a pound of bricks. 

“I was going to hurt you…” Milo didn’t move but something shifted in his expression. “I-I was… I’m so sorry.” Phineas pushed himself up to his knees as the girl yelled at Milo. He moved his hands down to the mind controller and tugged at it fruitlessly. It was firmly clamped around his head, even with his arm attachments he wasn’t strong enough to yank it off. The band was so tight it was making his head hurt.

“Sara, I think he needs help.” Milo said quietly. The girl, Sara, snapped back: “Milo it isn’t safe, Doofenshmirtz could be coming!” Phineas ignored them. The device was starting to hum again. “No, no, I don't want to go back, I need to help them!” He doubled his attempts to get the headband off. Phineas was grunting in pain from the effort but it stayed firmly attached. The light shone again and Phineas felt his mind starting to go fuzzy. He needed to help...someone...who was it...? “NO!” He shouted in a panic. 

“Sara!” “ _ Fine _ !” Another set of hands grabbed onto the device. “You need to help me.” Phineas barely registered what Sara told him. He didn’t remember why he was trying to remove the device but he tried anyway as his thoughts started getting replaced again. With a yelp from Phineas the device was yanked off and he was knocked over by the wave of clarity again. It felt like he could finally breathe after being smothered. Tears of relief flooded from his eyes, even as the pain from the earlier explosion started setting in.

“Thank you, thank you so much.” He took the device from Sara and slammed it into the kitchen floor. Sara helped him to his feet and Phineas stomped as hard as he could onto the device until it broke completely. The metal made horrible sound as it bent out of shape under his robotic leg attachment. After a moment of staring at it he spoke, “I need to get to my family-” Another hauntingly familiar voice broke him off.

“Boy borg! Report!” Phineas looked in horror at his communicator. In his relief he had forgotten Doofenshmirtz. Thinking fast he responded as if the device was still working. “Sir! Threat has been neutralized.” The thudding of his heart was loud enough that Phineas was almost certain Doofenshmirtz would know. He could hear the smile in the evil man’s voice, “Good, bring in the prisoner.” Milo locked eyes with Phineas. He looked absolutely terrified. “Yes Sir.” Phineas cut the communicator and started pacing.

“How am I going to pull this off, I can’t take you there! Maybe if I had some spare parts I could make a robot you but I don’t have enough time. Maybe I could say that you got away? But that would look suspicious...and besides that even my Uncle Perry didn’t get away…we can't do a frontal attack with just me...” He kept rambling like that for a few minutes trying to come up with some sort of plan. He knew how to get his family out but putting another person in danger was _not_ something that sat comfortably with him.

“What about if you take me?” Sara suggested. Milo somehow managed to look even more scared, the blood draining from his face. “But Sara, no one who gets arrested comes home.” She gave him a soft hug. “I can make it out. You could get trapped by Murphy’s Law or thrown in a special cell, I don’t want you going.” Phineas wasn't quite sure why she was willing to help but he was grateful all the same, even if taking in a prisoner made him feel nauseous.

“Are you sure? It’s going to be dangerous. I can come up with a plan without taking either of you.” Sara shakily met his eyes and nodded. Phineas could tell she wasn’t going to budge, he saw the same fire in her eyes that his own sister got sometimes. Milo was still clinging to Sara, clearly not wanting her to go anywhere.  Phineas lightly rested his hand on Milo’s shoulder. “I promise she’s going to come back. I’ve got a plan to free my family and stop Doofenshmirtz for good.” He said firmly. Milo still looked scared but something about Phineas’s confident mask must have reassured him. “What’s the plan then?” Sara asked, her voice slightly wavering.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phineas gets to know someone a little better while going for his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Let me know if something seems off!)

“Milo, go upstairs and have mom bandage your arm already.” Sara pushed her brother out of the kitchen hastily. Phineas had gone over the plan with them a few times to make sure there wouldn’t be mistakes but he knew time was running out. He pulled a pair of handcuffs from the compartment in his arm extensions and clipped them on Sara’s wrists. “Are they too tight?” He asked. 

“No, they’re fine. Lets just hurry please.” Phineas nodded and grabbed her arm carefully. “Milo!” Sara caught his attention just before he was out of earshot. “Tell mom it’s time.” He nodded before continuing his path up the stairs. Phineas didn’t bother to ask what she was talking about, choosing instead to lead her out the front doorway, flinching at the broken door, and up the street. The normbots littering the street reminded him of something.

“How did he beat all of them?” Phineas wondered aloud. Sara looked around nervously before answering. “Murphy’s Law. It’s a condition all males in our family have that makes all kinds of crazy, dangerous things happen. We’ve been trying to keep Milo at home so he wasn’t taken by Doofenshmirtz. He’s a vile man but he isn’t stupid, if he found a way to weaponize my brother we would never see him again.” That’s when the pieces clicked for Phineas. “That’s why you insisted on coming…” Sara nodded sharply. “That and…” She hesitated, looking down at the small boy holding her arm.

“I know what it’s like to be scared for your family and if helping you will make it where both of us can stop worrying then I’ll do anything. Plus if I didn’t help Milo would feel awful, even if you did hurt him.” Phineas looked at the asphalt beneath their feet. Guilt and shame pushed at his ribcage as he forced down another apology. Maybe he hadn’t been in control but it was still him who did it. He had hurt people. “Normbots!” Sara hissed at him.

Phineas looked up at the two bots. Their cheery-man heads were somehow even more disturbing than the angry ones that replaced them when someone disobeyed. “Can I see your papers?” The falsely happy voice inquired. Phineas shot a meaningful look at Sara before letting go of her arm. He reached into the front pocket of his own dooferalls and pulled out a set of papers. The bot seemed satisfied with them and turned to Sara.

“She’s a prisoner, orders from Dr. Doofenshmirtz.” Phineas’s stomach was twisting into knots. Sara didn’t seem like she was doing any better. Her breathing had started to sound more like hyperventilation. “Have a nice day!” It finally chimed at them. “Come on.” They started speed walking up the street. Doofenshmirtz’s building was only one more street up. “Ok, don’t worry. Everything will go to plan and things will be ok.” 

It felt like seconds before the large purple building loomed over them. Phineas led Sara inside. Doofenshmirtz was waiting for them in the main room. He noticed the missing mind control device immediately. “Boy borg, where is your headband?” Phineas kept his face as blank as possible. “The prisoner broke it trying to escape.” “And you don’t feel...different?” Suspicion dripped from his nasally voice.

“No Sir.” His heart was pounding up into his throat. Was he even convincing the man? Sara took an instinctive step back from Doofenshmirtz and Phineas was forced to hold on her arm tighter. He yanked her forward, still trying to keep any emotions from showing. “Permission to put the prisoner away, Sir?” Doofenshmirtz squinted at him a moment. “Permission granted, check the other prisoners while you’re down there.” Phineas snapped his arm up in a salute. “Tomorrow I’ll give you another headband.” 

“Yes Sir.” They felt the evil man’s eyes burning into their backs as they walked to the elevator. As soon as the doors closed behind them Phineas dropped Sara’s arm. He wrapped his arms around himself, shivering a little from the cold metal, before turning to his new companion. “I’m sorry for yanking you like that. I just couldn’t break character right then. Are you ok?” Sara was busy trying to rub her arm where he had grabbed her. “Yeah…” She seemed to be wanting to say something. “He’s intimidating up close.” Phineas offered as he unlocked her cuffs and put them away.

“He is. Are you sure he bought your act?” Sara asked nervously. “I hope so, he definitely seemed to. Now we just need to get my family and then we can get out of here.” She nodded at him. After two more floors of silence the elevator dinged open. They stepped into a room that had a metal door and a security pad sitting on the wall.

“Give me five minutes and I’ll shut down the security grid.” Phineas stepped confidently up to the pad. He knew exactly what to do and it had been too long since he had tinkered with anything. After removing the panel he switched around some wires. Ferb was more handy with tools but Phineas wasn’t too shabby himself. After taking a lock-pick tool from his leg attachment, and wondering why it wasn’t in his arm’s, he fidgeted with some of the gears and smiled when the telltale beep sounded through the room. 

“Ok, we have about forty-five minutes until anyone will notice.” He said as he pushed the now unlocked door open. There was a rush of excitement as he walked through it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A happy (ish) reunion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If something seems off feel free to let me know!

None of the people in the cells so much as glanced at him and Sara. He turned to the button next to the door. It was protected by a box of glass but all Phineas had to do was punch it and the glass shattered. He pushed the button and the doors to every cell slammed open. All but one of the former prisoners hesitantly stepped out. “...Phineas…?” Isabella asked. 

“Hi, everyone.” He said with a nervous wave. Sara had to jump back to avoid getting bowled over as the whole group surged forward to hug Phineas. For a moment it was a confusing crowd of limbs as everyone tried to get close to him. He would have fallen over if it weren’t for Buford moving behind him. For the third time that day he felt an overwhelming amount of emotions. Phineas didn’t want to move but a nervous cough from Sara reminded him of the limited time.

He gently extracted himself from the pile. “Ok, we need to get out of here. The others are in our dimension, if we get their help we might be able to stop Dr. Doofenshmirtz.” Ferb laid a hand on Phineas’s shoulder, prompting him to look around. “Wait, where’s Candace?” He pointed to her cell. “...She didn’t even move?” Ferb nodded.

“Candace?” Phineas asked as he walked into her cell. She stayed curled in the corner but Phineas could finally hear what she was mumbling. “He’s not here, it’s just a trick, he’s gone, he’s not here-” He shook her shoulder to get her attention. Shakily Candace turned to look at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. There was a heavy moment of silence as she looked him over. “You...your eyes.” Phineas tilted his head. “What?”

“Your eyes aren’t blurry…” Candace whispered. He subconsciously blinked a few times. “They were blurry? That must have been…” He couldn’t find the word. Strange just didn’t seem to cover it. For the first time Phineas wondered just how different he looked now. He guessed he probably looked just as pale and malnourished as 2D Phineas did, but judging by how easy it was to move or break things he was probably more muscular. “Do you remember me?” The question jolted him from his thoughts. Candace didn’t react to the others walking into her cell, she was intently watching her brother’s face.

“You’re my big sister Candace.” Phineas said. She started crying harder. Phineas jumped in surprise, “What’s wrong? Are you ok?” “You’re-you’re...I thought-...I thought I lost you!” She lunged forward and pulled him into a tight hug. Phineas struggled to pull in a breath. When she finally let go Sara coughed to get everyone’s attention, “We only have about thirty minutes to get out of here.” Phineas nodded to her.

“Ok, we can’t all go through the front door, obviously, so I’ve got another route planned for you guys. The ventilation system is strong enough to hold a full grown adult and its just barely big enough so I’ll take off a vent covering and you guys will climb your way out. Ferb, can you memorize the map?” Ferb gave him a thumbs up. “Good! I’ll pull it up in a second. When you get out, go to the old resistance hideout, Doofenshmirtz never found it so it should be safe. I’ll meet you there as soon as I get the others out too.”

All at once the group started to object, Phineas only caught bits and pieces of what they were saying. “-can’t leave us!’’ ‘‘-just got you back-” “-on your own-” “-lose you-” The noise mixed together and made his head buzz. He clamped his hands over his ears. “STOP!” Everyone stopped talking immediately. Phineas took a deep breath before pulling up the map and showing Ferb. He traced the path with his finger, causing it to light up. “This is the safest path, and you have to be quiet.” Ferb nodded and Phineas walked to the nearest vent to pull the cover off. The twisting screech of metal made his ears scream. He threw the grate to the side and gestured for them to crawl in.

“But-” Isabella started to object. Phineas held up a hand to silence her. “I’m too heavy to fit through with these metal attachments, they’ll punch a hole through the bottom and I need these to be able to get into the other prison. You guys need to get somewhere safe. This is the best way.” Perry clapped to get his attention.

_ I’m coming with you.  _ He signed sharply. “Uncle Perry you’re injured, you can’t come to a prison break.” Slowly, with a very pointed look, he signed again.  _ I’m coming.  _ There wasn’t any time to argue so Phineas just nodded. “Everyone else follow Ferb. Sara? You can go back home if you want so your brother knows you’re ok but you’ll have to be careful.” She shook her head nervously. “I’m coming with you too, Milo will be halfway out of Danville by now and I told you that I’d help. I know how to handle the unexpected.” With that decided Ferb hugged Phineas before crawling into the vent. The others followed, each saying their own goodbyes as they went. He watched them leave with what felt like a bowling ball for a heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a touch shorter but that's okay, the next chapter has some action in it! I'm also working on making a steady update schedule.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phineas, Perry, and Sara have a little trouble getting out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if anything seems off! Injury warning for this chapter but nothing too major.

“We don’t have a lot of time left Phineas.” Sara was anxiously pacing by the elevator. Phineas had been running through the game plan one last time with his uncle to make sure no one messed up but time slipped away too quickly for any of their liking. Perry gave a thumbs up and the trio stepped into the elevator. They just needed to get to a floor that had a doorway to the stairs. The floor below the prison was the kitchen where the normbots made Doofenshmirtz’s meals, and his oddly beloved muffins, which meant it would be crawling with bots but it was the closest floor that had stairwell access.

Sara and Perry hid behind the walls on either side of the elevator doors as they slid open. Phineas cleared his face of emotion and stepped into the kitchen. He breathed a sigh of relief when none of the bots spared him attention. A quick look around showed that the door was across the entire floor with an identification panel beside it. He spared a quick glance behind him where the others were cautiously peeking out. Carefully Phineas signed for them to stay put before striding across the room, dodging bots and food carts, and stopping at the panel. It looked easy enough to override.

He popped open a compartment in his arm attachment to pull out the lock pick tool. The wall panel opened easily. Before he could do anything a shadow loomed over him. “Do you have clearance to be here?” The normbot’s joyful tone made his skin crawl. “Orders from Doofenshmirtz, I need to check all the security features.” Phineas didn’t turn around but he crossed his arms as if him being interrupted was more annoying than nerve wracking. “Let me see your identification!” It chirped at him. Once again he pulled out the papers from his pocket and turned to hand them over.

The bot read them quickly before looking back at him. “You do not have clearance to work on equipment. I’ll call the boss to inform him of the protocall break!” Without thinking Phineas pointed his blasters at the bot. A second later it collapsed onto the floor with sparks coming out of it’s now busted head. The other normbots turned on him. Phineas was too focused on his arm attachments to notice. He was stunned by his own action. 

The laser blast just barely missed his head. Working on instinct he jumped to the side and shot in the general direction it came from. Perry saw Phineas in danger and launched out of the elevator. Phineas barely caught a glance of him jumping onto the back of a bot and punching its head off before he had to jump behind a counter for cover. “Sara are you ok?” He shouted over the ruckus. “Yep!” She shouted back from somewhere in the room. He poked his head above the counter and shot down another few norms before having to duck back down. Perry vaulted over the countertop. He landed with a wince on his bad ankle.

“Uncle Perry, I have to do something risky.” His uncle grabbed a stack of plates to frisby at the bots. Phineas peeked around the corner and aimed for the security panel. “This is going to set off alarms! Sara get as close to the door as you can!” He didn’t wait for a response before he shot. Sparks flew from the panel and in seconds a red light flashed as an alarm went off. Phineas ran out from behind his cover and punched a hole through the nearest bot’s chest. “Get to the stairs!” 

“Phineas!” Sara was roughly in the middle of the room hiding beneath a table while a swarm of normbots started to surround her. “Hang on, I’m coming!” He shouted. Blasting more bots out of the way Phineas weaved his way over to her, hoping his uncle had decided to get to the stairs instead of following him. His hopes were dashed as Perry ran past him and body slammed the first robot. It crashed backwards into the others and created an opening for Sara to run towards Phineas.

Perry was grabbed around the torso. Phineas couldn’t get a clear shot of the normbot so he ripped the leg off of a nearby table and ran into the swarm, swinging at the heads of any bots that got too close to him. No matter how hard his uncle struggled he couldn’t break from its grip. “Uncle Perry! Duck!” He shouted. Perry did as instructed seconds before the leg pierced through the normbot right where his head had been. As soon as his feet hit the floor he was running. They weaved through debris towards Sara and the stairway. Phineas turned to return fire a few times.

Sara was struggling to get the heavy door to open, it was designed to be electrically opened Phineas remembered, so when the two joined her they helped push on it. Suddenly the sirens cut off and a voice took their place. “Security breach on level three, all Normbot’s to the third floor! Don’t take prisoners!” The stress of the situation finally became too much and Phineas started crying. The door opened just wide enough for one person to fit so Phineas pushed Sara through, then Perry, before struggling through himself and letting the door slam shut again. “Down the stairs fast. They won’t be stuck there for long.” His voice was strained. He was trying to keep his emotions in check but he wasn’t doing very well. 

They started going down two steps at a time, except for Phineas who lingered behind a bit. Just like he warned the normbots blasted through the doors. “GO!” He turned and fired at them with both arms. They returned fire and he had to duck to the side as a chunk of the wall was blasted apart. Rubble rained down the stairwell. Phineas heard a hiss of pain and spared a glance. Perry had picked up Sara bridal style and jumped down to the second flight of stairs. A few bots tried to fly down the middle of the stairwell to get to them. 

Red clouded his vision. “You’re not hurting my family!” He grabbed a chunck of rock bigger than himself and threw it at the bots still on the stairs. Phineas then leapt over the remaining railing and landed full force on the back of the highest norm. His titanium feet extensions busted through its outer casing. It crashed into its twins below it and Phineas and the borgs hit the bottom floor. He didn’t get a chance to move before they exploded. 

The blast pushed him into the wall. For an eternity his thoughts were fuzzy and his ears rang. Pain pulsed through his body. Phineas just laid there trying to get his breath back. Suddenly there was shaking at his shoulder that caused more pain. He gasped and opened his eyes, startled by the blur of teal in front of them. “Phineas?” The voice was very distant. It sounded...afraid? Why was it scared and why couldn’t he see right? He groaned. “Phineas! Come on!” It was a girl’s voice. The blur in front of him moved a little bit. “Ok, I’ll take his other arm.” He felt himself being pulled up and whimpered from the bolt of fire that ran through his muscles. 

Phineas’s vision started clearing but his mind didn’t. Something about that made his heart want to race out of his chest. “M’scared.” He mumbled. The person on the right hushed him gently. He looked up and realised that the man holding him up had teal hair, making something loosen in his muggy brain. “Uncle Perry?” Perry chuffed out a sound halfway between a grunt and a laugh. He seemed relieved for some reason. 

The girl, Sara he remembered, kicked open the exit door and though the light wasn’t much brighter he still had to shut his eyes. He started coming down from the shock as the memories came back. “You can put me down.” They did so and after making sure he wouldn’t fall he led them off to the left. They turned down a backstreet. In the middle was a manhole. It was one of the very few left unwatched. Phineas pulled the cover off, ignoring his screaming muscles and beckoned them down. He slid in after them and quickly replaced the manhole cover, none too soon, as a moment later they heard the sound of the normbots flying above them. None of them daring to breathe until the sound faded. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio needs to find their way to the original dimension.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if something seems off!

Phineas stayed under the hole with his blasters pointed up. He wanted to be ready in case the normbots somehow realised they were down there but after five tense minutes with no sound he lowered his aching arms. “Are you ok?” Sara’s voice was soft, barely heard. Or maybe he just couldn’t hear well over the ringing in his ears. “I’m alright, are you guys ok?” He asked as he hit a button on his arm attachments. They lit up red and made it where he could actually see around him. His uncle was watching him intensely. Phineas turned to look at Sara and realised she was doing the same thing. “What?” 

Perry snapped to get Phineas’s attention.  _ You’re not ok, you’re bleeding P. What were you thinking? I don’t want to lose my nephew less than an hour after I just got him back! Do you know how lucky you are to have survived that explosion? I thought you were dead!  _ Phineas looked down at the floor. He hadn’t been thinking, he had just panicked. The sound of tearing fabric made him look back up. Perry was tearing pieces of his shirt off and he gestured for Phineas to get closer. 

No one spoke as he was getting bandaged. Perry finished wrapping the last spot on his arm and pulled him into a tight hug. “I’m sorry.” Phineas mumbled into his shoulder. Sara nervously laid her hand on his back as if she wanted a hug too. Perry let him go and held him at arm's length with a stern look that made his message clear. “I won’t do something like that again.” Phineas promised. Sara piped up, “Maybe we should go if we want to reach your other friends. Doofenshmirtz might do something bad to them after this.” 

Phineas felt a jolt of panic. “We need to get to the other dimension. I have no idea how to get there without going through all the others or using Doofneshmirtz’s own portal.” Sara paled even further. Phineas raised his hands in a placating gesture. “We aren’t going back into that place. But I need some parts if I want to build us our own portal. Are there any places that have tech we can use?” Sara shook her head.

“I don’t know of any. It’s not safe to have anything but Doof-brand objects, if those might have the parts you would need?” She asked hesitantly. Phineas thought for a moment. It was a long shot but it was the safest option they had. He nodded to her and she started walking down the tunnel. “We can use the stuff at my house. Come on, I know the way.” Perry didn’t move until Phineas did, staying a little behind him as they followed Sara. “If you barely go outside then how do you know the sewer system?” Phineas asked.

“Milo.” Came the short answer. After a moment of tense silence Sara continued. “We needed a safe way to get him out if anyone ever came after him. Dad...dad marked out a safe path for us to follow but he also mapped out the entire sewer system if we needed to take a different route. I studied the map every night so I remember almost every tunnel.” Phineas didn’t miss the way her voice caught when she spoke about her dad. They fell into silence as she lead them down a series of twists and turns. Every time they had to cross the waterways Perry carried Phineas across so his attachments wouldn’t get wet. Phineas had to push down the guilt that swelled up at every unsteady step his uncle made on his injured leg.

Finally Sara stopped and pointed up. “This is right outside our house.” Phineas climbed the ladder and shoved the cover off of the manhole. He hesitantly poked his head out but the street was clear of any functioning normbots so he climbed out and gestured for the others to follow. After replacing the cover Phineas followed them back into Sara’s house. In the living room Phineas pulled out their tv and grabbed the remote. “Ok, I need something to fashion a small satellite dish out of and every battery you can find. If there are any kinds of tools here I need those too.” Sara immediately went on a search to find what he needed. 

Perry tapped his shoulder. Phineas looked up at him confused.  _ What do you need me to do?  _ He blinked before realising that Perry wouldn’t know where anything was in this house. “It would be a good thing to have a lookout.” Perry nodded before taking position by the window. It was a spot that gave him a good view while not being visible to almost anyone outside. Phineas turned back to his task and opened up the plastic casing of the remote. If he got all the right pieces he could make another hand-held portal like what Ferb had made when this nightmare had first started. He used his shoulder to wipe away some tears and set to work rewiring the remote.

He broke off the back of the tv and pulled out a computer chip that he could use and a few extra wires. Sara dropped stuff next to him intermittently as she found it and every once in a while he would ask her for something else that he needed. Phineas’s clunky metal hands slowed down the whole process. Several times he had to stop what he was doing to fix something. The minutes ticked by slowly. He was almost done when Perry churred out a warning. His head snapped up.  _ Normbots, they’re coming towards the house.  _ Sara sucked in a sharp breath. “Ok, Sara do you have a back door?” She nodded. “Grab some of those wires, that little handle there, and that sheet of metal. I’ll carry all the batteries. We’re going to go back in the sewer and I’ll finish up there.” She did as told as Perry joined them. Sara led them into the kitchen and out a door he hadn’t noticed the first time he had been in there. The backyard had a tree with it’s branches chained up and a fence with a hole in it.

The trio ducked through the hole into another backyard. They sprinted across it and climbed the next fence to reach another street. A manhole was right at the end. With Sara in the lead they jumped their way back into the dark sewers. After moving to a spot farther away from the manhole Phineas pulled out the parts again and worked furiously. He bent the metal plate into a cone shape and attached it to the remote before moving around some wires and putting the handle where it needed to be. As soon as it was finished he turned the crank and pointed the remote at the closest wall. A portal opened up into a brightly colored realm with strange creatures. “It’s beautiful.” Sara breathed. 

“Here’s the plan: I’ll open a portal, we hop through, I close it, and we do it over and over again until we’re back in the other dimension. We only stop if I need to change the batteries. We don’t have time to look around or anything like that.” Perry snapped a salute. Phineas jumped through the portal first and the other two jumped in after him. He quickly closed off the portal and opened the next one. Six dimensions later and Sara started getting overwhelmed. Phineas stopped to check on her. “I’m alright it’s just. All these places are so weird and beautiful. There’s so many colours I’m getting dizzy.” Phineas nodded. He knew that as long as Doofenshmirtz was in power everything was in muted tones of greys and purples. Most of Sara’s life had been drowned in dull. “I know it’s a lot for you and if you want, after this whole thing gets fixed, I can take you back here to explore.” Sara’s face lit up and Phineas smiled. 

“Let’s get going again.” She said after a second. Phineas nodded and opened the next portal. He lost track of how many they went through before popping out into one that looked like it could be right. A quick look around confirmed they were in the right dimension. The second Doofenshmirtz building loomed threateningly a block away.

“The others are in a building three blocks south of his, Doofenshmirtz wanted to make sure that not all of his prisoners were in the same place, it’s heavily guarded and with our breakout it’ll be worse.” Phineas said. “Our best chance is to try and sneak in and find a route out that can handle a large group of people.” He lead them through the streets, dodging normbots on patrol, and ended up stopping two building lengths from the prison facility. A brick fence surrounded the area and normbots swarmed like flies. Perry pointed out a spot where they could get in without being spotted. Quick as possible the trio snuck to the opening and found a dumpster to hide by. “Alright, it looks like there might be an air duct by the back entrance. If I distract the bots you two can get in and find a way-” He was interrupted by the sound of explosions in the building.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Breakout time, will everyone get to the base safely?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if anything seems off! WARNING!! Panic attack description, please read with caution.

All three of them jumped to their feet. The wall closest to them blasted apart and a laser shot out from the cloud to hit a nearby normbot. The dust settled and Phineas could only stare as his counterpart and Ferb’s aimed the severed robot arm at another bot and shot it down. 2d Candace was using a bar from one of the cells to smash down any normots that came too close and the firestrike girls all used whatever they could as weapons. The shock wore off and Phineas ran into the fray. Perry followed suit and Sara looked for a weapon before doing the same. 

Phineas shot down a few bots and dodged their return fire. Perry covered his back. Sara managed to make it to the larger group and helped the firestrike girls. Even with the large mass of norbot’s the group managed to make a sizable headway against them. Phineas was about to shoot another bot when a blast hit him in his right arm, barely missing his side. The force bowled him over. The breath was knocked out of him but he quickly went to return fire before stopping in shock. The blaster aimed at him was in the hands of him and his brother’s counterparts. He rolled to the side as they shot again. “Wait! I’m here to help!” 

A normbot shot the severed arm out of their grasp and Phineas took the opportunity to check his own arm. If the metal had been even millimeter thinner his actual arm would have been hit too. As it was the attachment was overheating and sparking like mad. Phineas grabbed the outer bar that ran from his elbow joint to the actual glove and pulled as hard as he could, busting it. Before he could do the same on the other side 2d Candace was on top of him. She swung at his head with the pole and he defensively raised his arm to block. He yelped in pain. She swung again but he rolled out of the way. “Wait!” Candace didn’t even hesitate. She aimed hit his head.

Her pole was stopped by Perry, who twisted it out of her hands and kicked her in the chest. He took a defensive stance in front of Phineas. The others had finished off the bots and were staring as their captain was thrown back. Sara struggled to push through them. “Stop! He’s not going to hurt anyone!” She shouted to the mob. Candace rose to her feet. She was staring in shock at Perry. “He’s a borg now, we can’t trust him! I know he looks like Phineas but he’s gone. Doofenshmirtz is playing a cruel trick on you.” Perry shook his head. Phineas was too focused on breaking the connector on the other side of his arm. His skin was starting to sting from the raise in temperature. As soon as it broke he tugged at the glove. It was just as tightly placed as his headband was. Sara stepped forward to help as Perry and Candace fought back and forth about how safe Phineas was. 

Phineas had Sara grab the glove and he grabbed his upper arm. They both pulled with all their strength and the glove slowly slid off. She stumbled back a bit when his arm finally came free. He stared at his hand in wonder. It had been almost a year since he had last had the luxury of seeing his own fingers move. A shaky laugh escaped his throat. Carefully, almost afraid, he touched the ground. Gritty dirt made his fingers tingle as Phineas ran them across the bumpy surface. Candace had stopped arguing to stare at him. “Is he...laughing?” Perry turned around and smiled as his nephew proudly showed him that he had gotten the attachment off. 

“I told you, he isn’t here to hurt anyone.” Sara said sternly. Phineas touched his clothes, his face, his hair, any texture that he hadn’t gotten to feel for ages. He was laughing hysterically but he couldn’t help himself. A bubble of airiness had bloomed in his chest. Perry kneeled down and ruffled his hair.  _ We better get to the hideout you told us about.  _ Phineas nodded and pulled the portal remote out of his front pocket. He turned the handle and a portal brightly rimmed in green opened up. “You guys go through first, if any reinforcements get here I can distract them while you guys get through.” Sara jumped through without hesitation. Candace thought for a moment before motioning for her troops to go through as well. “I still don’t trust you.” She whispered before following them. Perry stepped through and Phineas joined them before shutting the portal down. 

The group stood in the yard of a very familiar home. It was the Flynn-Fletcher house but it appeared to be almost deserted. The 2d siblings’ parents were probably hiding somewhere ‘safe’. “Let’s get to your hideout.” Phineas started walking to the front of the house. A herd of soft footsteps followed him. After checking if the coast was clear he lead them across the street onto 2d Isabella’s front lawn. The trapdoor opened and the whole group fell down to the hidden rooms below. “Phineas!” Candace’s voice shouted from somewhere in front of him.

His Candace ran forward and pulled him into a bone crushing hug. “Can’t breathe.” He gasped out. She let him go quickly. “Your hand is free.” Ferb walked up right next to him. “Thanks to other dimension Candace. Can you help me get the rest of this off of me?” Ferb nodded and went to grab a set of dusty looking tools. 2d Candace ordered her gang to get the base up and running again. “And you-” She pointed at Phineas. “Tell me why I shouldn’t lock you up right now.” Phineas suddenly felt afraid again. “Because I’m not working with Doofenshmirtz. Sara broke my mind control headband. I don’t want anyone to get hurt or captured, I want to stop Doofenshmirtz and set both our dimensions back to normal.” She had watched him intently as he spoke. A few minutes of thinking later she nodded.

“Well if you guys are going to work together with us we should come up with a codename system so there’s less confusion. You can all call me Sir or Captain, my brothers will be Flynn and Fletcher.” 2d Phineas and Ferb nodded in agreement. “Ok, well we’ll call our Isabella ‘Isa’ and your Buford ‘Stomm’. Dr. Baljeet and Baljeet can stay the same.” Phineas suggested. Captain smiled, “That works kid.” She left to supervise as Ferb walked over to help with the attachments.

Phineas grabbed a screwdriver with his free hand. He started on one of his legs while his brother started removing the other arm. He remembered getting them attached. The hands of the man who put them on were a lot more careless with hurting him. Flinching at the memory of his waistband being snapped on Phineas stopped working. Isa, who had been helping her counterpart, noticed this and walked over to take the screwdriver from him. “He put them on too tight, it hurt so much. The belt cut into my skin a little.” His voice was trembling as much as he was. Isa grabbed his hand. “It’s ok Phineas, we are going to get them off and it won’t hurt again.” Phineas gripped her hand tightly. “He didn’t care that I was in pain, he said...he said that I wouldn’t feel anything after he was done.” Each returning memory made him want to curl into a ball. Being all alone and in so much pain was terrifying. His arm attachment clicked open and Ferb moved to the band that was wrapped around his upper arm to make extra sure the metal glove wouldn’t budge. 

“The headband felt like when we were boring but so much worse. It was like drowning but not being able to tell.” Phineas had started crying. “I don’t want to be like that again.” Isa got the band on his right arm to loosen and she slipped it off. “We won’t let you become like that again, I promise.” The other band loosened and Ferb slipped the whole attachment off his left arm. He used his newly freed hand to grab at his hair. Phineas couldn’t breathe suddenly, his mind swirling violently with the memories of being turned into a weapon, he couldn’t focus on anything in front of him. Unable to feel anything but the cold metal clamping over his hands and feet. The only sound he heard was the laughter of Doofenshmirtz. His chest felt too tight.

Suddenly Phineas was aware of something warm wrapped around his hands. Slowly the sounds of the bunker came back and Ferb’s calming voice was giving him instructions. “Breathe in four seconds.” Phineas listened. “Hold it for seven.” Ferb tapped the seconds on his hand to help him keep track, “Out for eight. Good job Phineas, now do it again.” Phineas continued the exercise, using the tapping to make sure it was right. He heard a click and looked down to see the belt had snapped open. Ferb had been working on the rest of the robotic parts at the same time as whispering reassurances to his brother. With the belt shut down the legs unclamped as well. Isa and Ferb helped him step out onto his own feet. 

He still had a loudly thrumming heart but the exercise had helped significantly. His ankles wobbled and he realised the boot part hadn’t allowed him to move them at all. The whole thing looked like an incomplete exoskeleton. The belt had bands that rested on the outer legs down to the knee joint that attached to the lower boot section of the legs, the same concept being used for the arms. A part of him didn’t accept that the horrible metal appendages were gone. His body felt so much lighter. “How are you feeling Phineas?” Isa asked gently. He took a shaky step. Phineas felt his heart skip a beat when he pulled his leg up too violently by accident. “I can’t remember how to walk normally.” He told her.

“We’ll help you relearn.” She responded. His bare feet felt cold on the stone floor. It was reminding Phineas too much of the metal. Isa noticed his discomfort. “I’ll see if they have any spare shoes.” And she walked off. Ferb helped him sit down and took a seat right in front of him. “I really missed you bro. I couldn't tell but I really did.” Phineas said to him.  _ I missed you too. I was scared I’d never get you back after those first few months.  _ Ferb signed. “Do you...do you know how long…?” Phineas couldn’t finish the question.  _ Seven months, eight days, and roughly thirteen hours.  _ He answered, not needing to hear all of the question. “Oh.” Was all Phineas could think to say. He thought it had been longer, it had felt that way. 

A comfortable silence fell over them. Isa returned with some socks and shoes minutes later and handed them to Phineas. He put them on as best he could but he could barely remember how to tie the laces right. There was another spike of panic at that but it calmed down when Phineas managed to get them tied. Isa joined the brothers in the silence. Perry limped over.  _ It’s almost time for everyone to get some sleep.  _ He cast a wary glance at the metal parts sitting behind Phineas.  _ And the firestrike girls want to get that removed from the hideout.  _ It was almost like he was asking Phineas for permission. 

“I don’t care what they do, as long as I never have to wear it again.” Perry nodded and left to tell the girls. Gretchen and Adyson grabbed the attachments moments later and disappeared down a tunnel. When they returned thirty minutes later they pulled a cart with blankets and pillows stuffed in it. Everyone was handed one of each and told to find a spot they would find comfortable. Captain took first watch. The group from Phineas’s dimension all set up around him, with Ferb, Candace, and Perry laying at his sides and feet protectively. It took some time for everyone to fall asleep. Phineas stayed awake longer than most everyone, exhausted and too scared to sleep, but eventually he nodded off too.


End file.
